Notice to Members from Board of Directors

 

Due to the continuing pandemic, the OSCA Board of Directors needs to take action to ensure the ongoing work of the association. We will ask you, OSCA members, to vote on the following motion on May 26, 2020 through a Google Form. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the motion, please forward to the Governance Committee care of Marie Moftah, zoologyalex@gmail.com or Kim Enns-Hildebrand ennshik@gmail.com by Friday May 22, 2020.

EMERGENCY MOTION:
Should extraordinary circumstances beyond their control (ie. pandemic, board composition) arises where the OSCA/ACOSO Board’s usual functionality is interrupted/disturbed, the Board has the discretion to make decisions in the best interest of the continuity of the Association.

2020 OSCA/ACOSO Student Awards

Awards are now open for nominations!
Deadline is May 29th

OSCA-ACOSO Anthony Di Lena Student Pathway Awards' mandate is to assist at-risk students in their journey towards success. An award is given to at-risk students who have demonstrated the exemplary ability to succeed in the face of adversity. $500.00 awards are presented to students who, in their postsecondary pursuits, are taking a pathway to apprenticeship, college, university or work.

Nominated students must be graduating/or have graduated from an accredited public secondary, Catholic secondary, or inspected private secondary school, including First Nations, in the province of Ontario in the previous school year.

Students must be nominated by a classroom teacher, a Student Success Teacher, a Co-OP Teacher, a Tech teacher, or a Guidance Counsellor. (All teachers cannot be the student's parent.) The nominator does not have to be a member of OSCA.

In order to be nominated, a student must fulfill one or more of the following criteria:

The student succeeded in school despite having to overcome personal obstacles.
The student succeeded in school despite having to cope with bullying and/or violence.
The student succeeded in school despite being socio-economically disadvantaged.
The student succeeded in school despite having to manage a mental health issue.
The student succeeded in school despite having to overcome academic challenges.

Nomination Form

OSCA/ACOSO Guidance and Career Education Awards 2020

Awards are now open for nominations!
Deadline is now May 28th, 2020

Curriculum and Resources

**The Elmer Huff Award for Guidance and Career Education Resources - presented in recognition of outstanding contribution to the career development of young people through the creation, development and delivery of high quality Guidance and Career Education Resources.

Counsellor Professional Development

**The Russ Seltzer Award for Contribution to Counsellor Education in Ontario - presented to honour contribution to Counsellor Education in Ontario, including teaching Guidance and Career Education Additional Qualification courses.

**The Howard R. Beattie Award for Contribution to Counsellor Professional Development - presented to a counsellor who has created new and beneficial ideas and techniques for professional use and communicated these through such means as workshops, local leadership and the organization of a conference or guidance professional development activities.

Elementary Guidance

**The Marion Axford Award for Elementary Guidance - presented in recognition of outstanding contribution to elementary guidance in Ontario.

Peer Helping

**The Daryl L. Cook Peer Helping Award - presented to one elementary and/or one secondary school in Ontario in recognition of its exemplary peer helping program.

Contribution to Guidance and Career Education

**The Career/LifeSkills Resources Award for Excellence in Career Education - presented in recognition of outstanding contribution to career development. This award is presented by Career/Lifeskills Resources (www.career-lifeskills.com).

**The Certificate of Appreciation - presented in recognition of outstanding contribution to Guidance and Career Education in Ontario by individuals/groups who are community partners.

**The Phil Hedges Award - presented to recognize the contributions to Guidance and Career Education by dedicated counsellors in the Province of Ontario. An award will be given to one qualifying nominee from each of the six educational regions in the province, or up to a maximum of six qualifying nominees from across the province. **Please refer to http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/offices.html to determine which region each school board is included in.

**The Morgan D. Parmenter Memorial Award - presented to recognizes a person who has made a most significant contribution to Guidance and Career Education in Ontario.

Nomination Form

OSCA will once again be offering the additional qualification courses in Guidance and Career Education this summer. Parts 1, 2, and 3 (Specialist) will be offered, pending enrollment.

Summer Session: July 6th to July 31st.

Cost: $650
No textbook
Course is entirely online, within an online classroom format. The course is taught by a current Guidance Counsellor that works in a school setting.

We know the disruption of student life and academics brought about by COVID-19 has led to much uncertainty amongst students and their families.

As we look ahead, we want to reassure you that Ontario’s universities remain committed to providing high quality education for our students.

Ontario universities are planning for a fall term and are focused on finding ways to create an enriching university experience. While each institution will develop its own approach to the fall term, we are united by the common goal of delivering university programs that will support student success.

The Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) provides financial support to post-secondary students, and recent post-secondary and high school graduates who are unable to find work due to COVID-19.

This benefit is for students who do not qualify for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) or Employment Insurance (EI).

Many colleges have multiple intakes so a deferral from a program that starts in September can mean deferring to January or May. Students don’t have to wait a full year. These intake changes can be completed on the student’s application at www.ontariocolleges.ca or the applicant can contact the college’s admissions offices.

Colleges are committed to supporting students in applying for the following year with a voucher or other methods to ensure that the student can be considered. For high-demand programs, students will be considered equally when they apply by February 1st. Please have applicants connect with the college that they wish to attend to discuss their options in deferring to the next year.

Georgian College has provided a Virtual Tour for prospective students. Please follow the link below to take the virtual tour of the Barrie Campus.

We hope that you, your families and colleagues are safe and healthy.

Planning for the Cannexus National Career Development Conference, in January 2021, remains underway at this point with all necessary precautions and contingencies. At this point, CERIC invites individuals or organizations with an interest in presenting at Cannexus21 to submit a proposal.

Education in the Pandemic? A National Scan
Canada-wide Education & COVID Tracker

People for Education is keeping track of the differences in educational policy and approaches across the country during the pandemic.

The Canada-wide Education during COVID-19 Tracker will provide an opportunity to understand more about the successes, challenges and evolution of each region''s response.  If you know of updates for your province, please email info@peopleforeducation.ca.

Canada-wide Education & COVID Tracker (click here)

Speak Truth to Power Canada, Defenders for Human Rights is an educational resource that can serve as a catalyst to reverse apathy by igniting passion, instilling responsible citizenship values, and emphasizing that the attainment of individual rights is intrinsically tied to the attainment of collective rights.

OSCA's very own Julie Fantinato has created a YouTube video series: welcome to Guidance Corner!
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Today we are going to discuss a few strategies on how to deal with our worries, those we can and can't control.

Students are understandably concerned that many college and university campus tours have been cancelled as a result of COVID-19. Choosing which school to attend is a huge decision and campus tours are one of the best tools to help.
Many schools are getting creative by switching to virtual tours to help students explore their campuses and get their questions answered. We’re going through every province and territory to find all of these tours and additional resources and put them in front of you.

edX is the trusted platform for education and learning. Founded by Harvard and MIT, edX is home to more than 20 million learners, the majority of top-ranked universities in the world and industry-leading companies. As a global nonprofit, edX is transforming traditional education, removing the barriers of cost, location and access. Fulfilling the demand for people to learn on their own terms, edX is reimagining the possibilities of education, providing the highest-quality, stackable learning experiences including the groundbreaking MicroMasters® programs. Supporting learners at every stage, whether entering the job market, changing fields, seeking a promotion or exploring new interests, edX delivers courses for curious minds on topics ranging from data and computer science to leadership and communications. edX is where you go to learn.

A slide deck with helpful tips, put together by Rae Fearing, Ryan Bahten, and Vic Schoonover.

To get access to the OCMT High School Application and help your students improve their numeracy skills and achieve success in mathematics.: Given the current situation, and to facilitate the continuity of numeracy upgrading in a digital environment, Vretta has waived any costs associated with using the OCMT app for teachers and students for the duration of the pandemic.

Introducing College Dialogues on Demand!

 It is my honour and privilege to introduce you to Dialogues on Demand, a fully digital version of the beloved event. The website is live and ready for you to use, you can find it on the main CRALO webpage or by clicking the following link: https://cralo.ca/college-dialogues-on-demand/

Here you will be able to find a digital version of the College Dialogues Booklet as well as view 4-minute video updates from your Ontario colleges.

Being an on-demand event, counsellors can choose when and how many college updates to watch. The site will remain live for the foreseeable future until we can greet each other again in person.

The 2020 Ontario Universities' Guidance Dialogues Resource Guide is now available on the Guidance website.

The Resource Guide contains contact information, admission requirements, residence and scholarship details and other helpful information from Ontario universities.

Note: This document was compiled before the COVID-19 pandemic. Dates and processes may be subject to change. Contact the universities directly for the most up-to-date information.

In the past eight years since our inception, we have been offering the opportunity for women in the business, entrepreneur and corporate sector of Eastern Ontario to meet, educate, connect and empower each other.

We are very proud to say that for the month of June we will be celebrating Women In Trades & Manufacturing.

We are collaborating with our local public board of education, St. Lawrence College, the Kingston Home Builders Association, the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters Association (CME). We are hoping to increase awareness of this career path especially for girls.

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